E-cigarettes and arrhythmogenesis: a comprehensive review of pre-clinical studies and their clinical implications.

Electronic cigarette use has grown exponentially in recent years, and while their popularity has increased, the long-term effects on the heart are yet to be fully studied and understood. Originally designed as devices to assist with those trying to quit traditional combustible cigarette use, their popularity has attracted use by teens and adolescents who traditionally have not smoked combustible cigarettes. Acute effects on the heart have been shown to be similar to traditional combustible cigarettes, including increased heart rate and blood pressure.

Integrin β1 is a key determinant of the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in the kidney epithelial cells.

The expression of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is altered in multiple chronic kidney diseases like hypertension and renal fibrosis, where the signaling from the basal membrane proteins is critical for the development and progression of the various pathologies. Integrins are heterodimeric cell surface receptors that have important roles in the progression of these chronic kidney diseases by altering various cell signaling pathways in response to changes in the basement membrane proteins. It is unclear whether integrin or integrin-mediated signaling affects the ACE2 expression in the kidney.

Training the Next Generation of Obstetrics and Gynecology Leaders, A Multi-Institutional Needs Assessment.

Objective: To assess resident and faculty interest in, as well as content and preferred format for, a leadership curriculum during obstetrics and gynecology residency DESIGN: From June to July 2019, a needs assessment survey on leadership training was distributed to residents and academic faculty at 3 United States obstetrics and gynecology residency programs. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed. Open ended questions were analyzed for themes.

Disabled people's embodied and emotional geographies of (not)belonging in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This article addresses embodied and emotional geographies of (not)belonging for disabled people in Aotearoa New Zealand. The concept of 'embodied belonging' is used to show that bodies, things, place and space intersect in complex ways to produce contradictory feeling of (not)belonging in 'disability spaces'. Disability spaces can offer a direct challenge to ableism and create feelings of belonging for disabled people.

Middle-Aged Men With HIV Have Diminished Accelerometry-Based Activity Profiles Despite Similar Lab-Measured Gait Speed: Pilot Study.

Background: People aging with HIV are living with increased risk for functional decline compared with uninfected adults of the same age. Early preclinical changes in biomarkers in middle-aged individuals at risk for mobility and functional decline are needed.

Objective: This pilot study aims to compare measures of free-living activity with lab-based measures.

Long-Term Testosterone Supplementation in Older Men Attenuates Age-Related Decline in Aerobic Capacity.

Context: Testosterone increases skeletal muscle mass and strength, but long-term effects of testosterone supplementation on aerobic capacity, or peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak), in healthy older men with low testosterone have not been evaluated.

Objective: To determine the effects of testosterone supplementation on V̇O2peak during incremental cycle ergometry.

Design: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial (Testosterone's Effects on Atherosclerosis Progression in Aging Men).

Effect of Protein Intake on Lean Body Mass in Functionally Limited Older Men: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The Institute of Medicine set the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein at 0.8 g/kg/d for the entire adult population. It remains controversial whether protein intake greater than the RDA is needed to maintain protein anabolism in older adults.

Atypical Skeletal Muscle Profiles in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Asymptomatic Middle-Aged Adults.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals are at increased risk of age-associated functional impairment, even with effective antiretroviral therapy (ART). A concurrent characterization of skeletal muscle, physical function, and immune phenotype in aviremic middle-aged HIV-infected adults represents a knowledge gap in prognostic biomarker discovery.

Methods: We undertook a prospective observational study of 170 middle-aged, HIV-infected ambulatory men and women with CD4+ T-cell counts of at least 350/µL and undetectable plasma viremia while on effective ART, and uninfected control participants.

Ambulation Orderlies and Recovery After Cardiac Surgery: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: One potential strategy to increasing physical activity after surgery is to utilize an ambulation orderly (AO), a dedicated employee whose assures frequent patient walking. However, the impact of an AO on physical and functional recovery from surgery is unknown.

Methods: We randomized post-operative cardiac surgical patients to receive either the AO or usual care.

Effects of an Ambulation Orderly Program Among Cardiac Surgery Patients.

Background: Despite the known benefits of ambulation, most hospitalized patients remain physically inactive. One possible approach to this problem is to employ "ambulation orderlies" (AOs) - employees whose main responsibility is to ambulate patients throughout the day. For this study, we examined an AO program implemented among postcardiac surgery patients and its effect on patient outcomes.

Design of a randomized trial to determine the optimum protein intake to preserve lean body mass and to optimize response to a promyogenic anabolic agent in older men with physical functional limitation.

The dietary protein allowance for older men to maintain lean body mass and muscle strength and to accrue optimal anabolic responses to promyogenic stimuli is poorly characterized. The OPTIMEN trial was designed to assess in older men with moderate physical dysfunction and insufficient habitual protein intake ( View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An analysis of changes in mobility and safety of older drivers associated with a specific older driver on-road licensing test: a population study.

Background: From 1999 to the end of 2006, older drivers aged 80 plus in New Zealand were subject to an older driver licence test as a condition of licensing. The impact of this test has not yet been studied in terms of the safety and mobility of older people.

Methods: Three main data sources were analysed to provide evidence of changes in older driver travel mode choice, licensing rates and injuries: New Zealand Travel Survey data, licensing data and police-reported crash data.

The role of self-association in Fin1 function on the mitotic spindle.

Stabilization of spindle microtubules during anaphase is essential for proper chromosome segregation. Fin1 is a budding yeast protein that localizes to the poles and microtubules of the spindle during anaphase and contributes to spindle stability. The N-terminal half of Fin1 is phosphorylated at multiple sites by the cyclin-dependent kinase Clb5-Cdk1, and dephosphorylation in anaphase triggers its localization to the spindle.

Cdk and APC activities limit the spindle-stabilizing function of Fin1 to anaphase.

The fidelity of chromosome segregation depends on proper regulation of mitotic spindle behaviour. In anaphase, spindle stability is promoted by the dephosphorylation of cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) substrates, which results from Cdk inactivation and phosphatase activation. Few of the critical Cdk targets have been identified.

Targets of the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdk1.

The events of cell reproduction are governed by oscillations in the activities of cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks). Cdks control the cell cycle by catalysing the transfer of phosphate from ATP to specific protein substrates. Despite their importance in cell-cycle control, few Cdk substrates have been identified.

Reactions of O*- with methyl benzoate: a negative ion chemical ionization and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance study.

The reactions of O*- with methyl benzoate have been examined by the measurement of negative ion chemical ionization (NICI) mass spectra using a CI source, with confirmatory studies carried out on a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. Reaction mechanisms have been elucidated using isotopically labeled esters. Nucleophilic attack at the carbonyl carbon and the aromatic ring were important reaction pathways.

Serial passage in tissue culture of mixed foot-and-mouth disease virus serotypes.

The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus field specimen SAU/8/88 was previously shown to consist of a mixture of O and Asia 1 serotypes [15]. In this study, plaques representing the O and Asia 1 components isolated from the original epithelial virus suspension were used to construct mixtures of known ratios, and these were serially passaged in tissue culture. After each passage, the ratio of O to Asia 1 virus was calculated.

Optimization of an in situ hybridization technique for the detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus in bovine tissues using the digoxigenin system.

An in situ hybridization technique has been optimised for use on paraffin-embedded sections of tissues collected from cattle infected experimentally with foot-and-mouth disease virus type O1BFS. Tissue was collected 5 days after infection by direct contact. In situ hybridization was carried out using an RNA probe corresponding to a region of the 3D gene which codes for the RNA polymerase, and labelled with digoxigenin.

Analysis of mixed foot-and-mouth disease virus infections in Saudi Arabia: prolonged circulation of an exotic serotype.

Plaque purification of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) type O viruses isolated from cattle in Saudi Arabia showed the presence of mixed serotype infections. Sixteen out of 31 samples collected between 1985 and 1991 also contained Asia 1 virus, a serotype which had previously only been isolated from a single outbreak in that country in 1980. Nucleotide sequences of the Asia 1 component of all these samples revealed little variation and showed that they were closely related to both a Russian lapinized vaccine virus strain (Asia 1/Tadzhikistan/64), and to a field isolate from Turkey (Asia 1/TUR/15/73).